Study: Conservative media 'impeding' the GOP

Elected Republicans are increasingly finding themselves unable to govern the country on a national level, thanks to Rush Limbaugh, the success of Fox News and countless commentators in the ever-growing conservative media.

That's the conclusion of a new study by New York Times political correspondent Jackie Calmes.

Based on interviews with several current and former Republican leaders across the country and media analysts, Calmes found that there is large discontent within the national Republican Party directed at conservative broadcasters and bloggers who wield immense influence within the party. Calmes said that influence that has hurt Republicans in national elections for nearly two decades.

"Once allied with but now increasingly hostile to the Republican hierarchy, conservative media is shaping the party's agenda in ways that are impeding Republicans' ability to govern and to win presidential elections," wrote Calmes in a paper published Monday by the Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy.